This invention relates to an apparatus for laying lines in an ice rink. Lines of the type generally used in hockey or similar games require a circular line to be laid on the ice surface at a particular location on the rink and also straight lines generally across the ice.
Many techniques have been available for forming the markings on an ice rink. In previous years paint has been applied in the ice, allowed to freeze and covered by further ice. More recently the lines in the ice have been formed by the application of paper or other material strips which are laid onto the ice, covered by a thin layer of further ice and flooded with thicker ice. The laying of the paper strips in straight lines for example the blue lines or red lines of a hockey rink requires the strip material to be stretched across the ice surface and while it is stretched a thin layer of water sprayed over the strip to hold it in place. This is not difficult but often requires two people and difficulties can arise in windy conditions. Also patterned lines as checkerboard or three stripe styles are often required and these can become more problematic.
The circles have been found to be very difficult to form and this takes a very long time and requires laborious action by two persons initially describe the circle on the ice and then to lay the strip by hand a short length at a time while attempting to bend it around the curvature of the circle while a second person sprays water onto the laid strip before it has a chance to move. This is an entirely hand operated procedure and extremely cumbersome and time consuming and leads therefore to a significant cost in the initial layup of the markings on the rink.